San Francisco is one of the last major American cities that do not allow officers to use the devices. Suhr supports their use, saying he would like to arm officers with another nonlethal weapon, especially after San Francisco police shot and killed a mentally ill man after he allegedly stabbed a co-worker last month.

At Wednesday's Police Commission meeting, Suhr proposed a pilot program that would allow officers who have completed crisis intervention training to be able to use so-called electronic control devices. Suhr promised to include community reaction before creating protocols for how and when to use the weapons.

That is among alternatives to be studied by three members of the commission, working with members of the community, the department and outside experts. It will report its findings in 90 days.

"We are not looking for wholesale deployment of this device," said Suhr, who in the past volunteered to be hit with a Taser so he could feel its effects.

The commission essentially resuscitated a February 2011 resolution it passed, agreeing to study stun guns and other nonlethal weapons and come up with a proposal to either drop the stun gun plan or begin a pilot program to test use of the weapon. But neither the proposal nor pilot program ever materialized.

In a 12-page letter sent to the Police Commission and Mayor Ed Lee on Wednesday, the ACLU said the weapons would be used disproportionately against minorities and the mentally ill.

"The fact remains that Tasers are not a simple alternative to firearms, and the idea that Tasers are harmless is false," said Micaela Davis, an attorney in the Criminal Justice and Drug Policy Project at the ACLU of Northern California.

Plus, the ACLU said, the Police Department hasn't fully implemented its crisis intervention training program that is designed to de-escalate situations. Only 74 officers have completed the training.

The issue of stun guns re-emerged last month after San Francisco police shot and killed Pralith Pralourng, a chocolate factory employee who allegedly stabbed a co-worker. Family members said Pralourng had a history of mental illness.

Stun gun advocates say the July 18 episode might have turned out differently if police had been able to use a stun gun instead of a lethal-force weapon.

But his sister saw it differently.

"Because of what happened to my brother, SFPD wants to use his case to justify passing a policy to use Tasers," Pralourng's sister, Savee Pralourng, told the commission Wednesday. "I don't think it's right to use my brother just to pass this policy and not accept responsibility for what they did to him."

More than 800 California police and public safety agencies use stun guns, including the San Francisco Sheriff's Department.